Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 review — A gorgeous, albeit disjointed campaign is paired with the best multiplayer and zombies modes the franchise has ever had to offer

The Black Ops subseries is on its sixth iteration at this point, and one would expect it to have found its footing by now. As part of the annual blockbuster Call of Duty franchise, it seems inevitable that Black Ops games are required to have these monumental (and memorable) campaign experiences.

A thrilling narrative that gets our blood pumping and makes us feel like a hero, but also presents us with gut-wrenching story beats that stay with us long after the credits roll. But Black Ops is a little different, we also expect an entire second story and game in the series’ massively popular Zombies mode, without even considering the effort put into multiplayer and Warzone integration.

It has been 4 years since the last Black Ops title was released, and the hype for Black Ops 6 is undeniable. A marketing campaign that rivaled Hollywood budgets with star-studded guest appearances, and promises of a return to classic Black Ops had us all on the edge of our seats, ready to shout “Black Ops is back!” With so much anticipation and expectation coloring the launch, could Black Ops 6 actually be everything that the players wanted?

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6—What is it?

The short answer to "What is Black Ops 6?" is that it’s the latest entry in a 20-year franchise of military arcade first-person shooters, and the sixth in the Black Ops series headlined by Treyarch Studios and published by Activision, now under the Xbox umbrella after a record-breaking merger. The Black Ops storyline often centers around conspiracies, the CIA and other secretive U.S. federal government operations, and world-changing, off-the-books missions carried out by elite operatives.

The longer answer is that Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is the effective sequel to Treyarch’s Black Ops Cold War, which was released in 2020. The game is the sixth in the Black Ops franchise, but it plays fast and loose with the canon timeline by taking place before the events of Black Ops 3 and 4. Set in the 1990s, the Cold War has come to an end and our former protagonist, Frank Woods, is now wheelchair-bound. Russell Adler, also returning from Black Ops Cold War, has gone rogue. Players take the role of the mysterious, silent protagonist dubbed “Case”, and Woods’ rag-tag team of operators is rounded out by the pacifist Felix Neumann, the master of disguises Sevati “Sev” Dumas, and the moral compass that is Troy Marshall.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6—Campaign review

Black Ops 6 is set in a rewritten historical timeline that embraces the conspiracy theories of the past, taking players back to the US-Iraq war without ever actually having us engage with it. The rogue element to the Black Ops team means that they’re entirely off-the-books and flying by the seat of their pants as they chase down a mysterious entity dubbed the Pantheon.

Call of Duty as a franchise has never shied away from touching on hot-button political moments, but it has always done so with a shrouded hand—Sledgehammer Games’ Call of Duty: WWII had players infiltrate and liberate a concentration camp, for example, but stopped short of an emotional impact by having the players heroically rescue the squad’s lone Jewish protagonist. Similarly, Black Ops 6 has brief moments of history happening in the background, but you never really have a meaningful impact on them nor they on you. They’re more parallel events than actual experiences that you take in via the campaign.

One mission sees the rogue Black Ops team travel to Kuwait, and at one point we even witness the toppling of a statue of Saddam Hussein. However, we are whisked away via helicopter after holding our own against Pantheon on a rooftop and witness the finale of this scene through the open hatch of the cargo plane as opposed to actually being a part of it. It felt like a poignant metaphor for how Call of Duty engages with the past.

Then Senator Bill Clinton makes an appearance in the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 campaign during a stealth mission. (Image credit: Windows Central)

What Black Ops 6 lacks in historical substance, the game more than makes up for in sheer moxie and explosive action. The campaign fractures the players' time between semi-open world missions, a massive safe house with its own secrets, and more traditional, linear missions. There’s considerably more stealth gameplay baked into Black Ops 6 than any other Call of Duty title that came before it. Although these stealth sections are well-paced and fit exquisitely into the narrative, they do feel like they’re dominating gameplay time. If you’re looking for those high-octane combat sequences and the rush of pushing through an onslaught of enemies as an underdog squad, you may struggle to feel fulfilled by Black Ops 6’s all-too-brief moments of action. In general, the stealth gameplay of lurking around pickpocketing key cards and trying to get photos of out-of-reach politicians has the campaign feeling immersive, but slower than its predecessors.

That said, the action sequences we do have, are absolutely jam-packed with excitement, explosions, and chaos, the likes of which could be found in any blockbuster movie opening on the Fourth of July weekend. It’s Black Ops as it is meant to be, and I’m here for it. From launching over a police blockade on a stolen dirt bike and immediately being surrounded by enemy combatants in SUVs to fighting for our lives against an ever-increasing threat of psychological warfare and conspiracies turned reality. There are these truly fantastic moments that keep you on the edge of your seat-they just don’t last nearly long enough.

Unfortunately, the disjointed structure of the campaign is my biggest frustration with Black Ops 6. Each mission feels completely different from the one before it, and while the narrative and purpose of the plot are all intact, the way you engage with it is varied dramatically from mission to mission. Treyarch is no stranger to experimental gameplay, but I just can’t help but prefer linear campaigns to Black Ops 6’s fractured semi-open world/semi-linear attempt at storytelling. It may make me sound boring to say it, but I really just wanted the campaign to pick a lane.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6—Multiplayer review

The infinitely scrolling lobby menus have been revamped for Black Ops 6. (Image credit: Windows Central)

Three pillars are vital to Black Ops feeling like—well, Black Ops. Campaign, Multiplayer, and Zombies. Treyarch has dared to make some drastic changes to multiplayer this year, and somehow nearly all of them have been for the better. First up is the introduction of Omnimovement, a complete overhaul of how players move and interact with the environment during Player-vs-Player (PvP) multiplayer matches. Omnimovement allows players to slide or dive in any direction, at any time, and is further refined by features like Intelligent Movement and Supine Prone.

Thousands of new animations were mo-capped by Treyarch Studios and finessed to make Omnimovement not just functionally viable, but visually striking, as well. Players often rely on quick visual cues as feedback on how interacting with another player panned out. Previous games in the series often left players wondering how a gunfight turned out the way it did because the animations seemingly did not match the other player’s actions. On more than one occasion I’ve had a player run past me and haphazardly take me out with a one-shot kill only to look back at a replay of the moment and realize that on my screen, it never even appeared as if the enemy aimed at me. The new animations from Treyarch now minimize these kinds of moments. If a player is walking sideways from side to side, the era of the crab walk is now gone and the animation more accurately depicts the player’s movement.

In addition to new animations and Omnimovement, accessibility features like Intelligent Movement offer greater accessibility to players who prefer to interact with Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 with fewer button inputs. Instead of taking 7–8 button inputs to sprint and mantle, Black Ops 6 gives players the freedom to adjust settings that will complete the same action in just two button presses.

Like its predecessors, Black Ops 6 offers core and hardcore multiplayer across a variety of modes such as Team Deathmatch, Kill Confirmed, Domination, and the brand-new Kill Order across 16 brand-new launch maps. Treyarch has decided, however, to split these 16 maps into Core and Strike designations, with Core matching classic Call of Duty multiplayer gameplay, while Strike serves as a ‘Small map mosh pit” type of playlist without score streaks.

Hardcore Hardpoint on Subsonic in Black Ops 6. (Image credit: Windows Central)

Those of us who prefer the chaos of small maps may find the thrill of a slew of Shipment-likes ready to go at launch exhilarating—that is until you realize you’re essentially punished for doing well by the lack of score streak availability. Small map mosh pits are great, but score streaks are half the fun of the chaos. Unfortunately, the majority of the small maps for Strike modes at launch are completely interiors, with little or no areas exposed to the sky for score streaks, leaving no real chance for Treyarch to add them back to the mode even if players requested it.

Black Ops 6 brings a dozen new, never-before-seen weapons into the fold for Multiplayer, and removes several that have proven to be problematic in recent years, including the Riot Shield and RGL 80 grenade launcher. Treyarch has nailed gun balance out of the gate, with every weapon feeling like it could be a sufficient counter to whatever the season’s latest meta cooks up. The XM4 seems to be dominating the battlefield at launch, and the CDL league has already settled a Gentleman’s Agreement (GA) to remove it from upcoming ranked and competitive play. However, Omnimovement and Intelligent Movement make it so easy to push back against heavy meta players and the “movement kings” of the past that most players will not notice when the base skews toward certain weapon types. We’ve all got camos to grind, after all.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6—Zombies review

One map for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's Zombies mode is Terminus Island, a former mining operation turned nefarious research laboratory. (Image credit: Windows Central)

At this point in the franchise's history, a Black Ops title without a Zombies mode is unfathomable. The mode has undergone a variety of changes and been presented in multiple formats over the years, but it's always reliably been there for Black Ops players. During the Modern Warfare 3 era, we had our first introduction to Zombies in an open-world setting, but the mode received limited updates and support in the year following its launch, unlike MW3’s multiplayer mode. There was some expectation that Modern Warfare Zombies might turn into a Warzone-like scenario, shifting with each new COD release but remaining the home for Zombies for an extended time.

Black Ops 6 ditched the Modern Warfare Zombies open-world arena, however, and returned to a classic round-based zombies approach. On one hand, you probably could criticize Treyarch for abandoning the MWZ and its player base, but on the other, I’d rather be here in Liberty Falls or Terminus anyway. I used to spend hours running circles with my friends on Kino Der Toten, training the last zombie, so somebody could run off to grab a snack between rounds or figuring out Easter eggs. I’ve always considered myself to be somewhat immune to nostalgia when it comes to gaming. But I’m over here excitedly texting my friends and asking if they’re going to be on so we can spend an evening on Zombies like it's 2010 again.

Zombies introduces Directed Mode to make it easier to complete Easter eggs by minimizing Zombie aggressiveness and offering a limited pause. (Image credit: Windows Central)

It’s truly a spin on the Zombie genre that you can really only get from round-based zombies in a Black Ops game. Returning to round-based Zombies might have single-handedly been one of the best decisions made by the Call of Duty team. It feels good to be back in that gameplay loop. It doesn’t just feel good, it looks good, and it plays like a dream. I have yet to come across a weapon in zombies that just felt like it didn’t work, they’re all well-balanced.

The layouts of both Terminus and Liberty Falls are intuitive, but marred by their own potential hazards that can keep you from ever feeling a little too comfortable while exploring. The Easter eggs are a nice challenge, but if you do find yourself overwhelmed you can fall back on playing solo via the new directed mode, which makes it more manageable. I’ve actually had to rely on wikis in the past in to help fill in Zombies lore that I missed from unobtainable Easter eggs. So having the new accessibility features really changes the game to be more playable for somebody who experiences fatigue like me. Though, I do still wish they were possible in squad mode—even if only the host could pause for a brief period of time.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6—Final thoughts

Troy Marshall and Frank Woods in the Black Ops 6 campaign. (Image credit: Windows Central)

I’ve been playing Call of Duty titles for more than 15 years, and I’m not shy about my preferences for linear campaigns and limited tolerance for sci-fi elements. It’s why more often than not I find myself preferring Modern Warfare as a series over Black Ops. Initially, I wasn’t sold that Black Ops 6 would change that much. I played through the campaign on veteran as my initial run, and I did enjoy the gameplay at its most rudimentary level. But as I progressed through the missions, I began to feel as if there were better ways to transition between missions and experience the story. Sometimes the gameplay is linear, sometimes it's a semi-open world. I just wanted Treyarch and Raven Software to pick a lane, find a genre to park Black Ops 6 in, and leave it there. Even with that frustration, it didn’t necessarily detract from the overall quality of the campaign, and I did enjoy the narrative structure and the story that was being told.

When I play COD campaigns, I tend to do a one-shot veteran play through and then call it a day. I’m not keen on replaying the campaign beyond the story itself, and it's Multiplayer and Zombies where I spend most of my time. It's those modes where Black Ops 6 shines the brightest. I’ve had an incredible time playing Black Ops 6 at launch. So much that I could easily have been content with the multiplayer maps and Zombies gameplay offered at launch all the way up until whatever Call of Duty 2025 turns out to be is announced. Yet somehow, I get to sit here and know that there are going to be around 6 seasons of new content heading our way in the coming year. More maps to explore, new weapons to try—and that’s without even considering Warzone integration, which is merely weeks away. I couldn’t be more excited about the future of Black Ops 6.

Is Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 on Game Pass?

Yes! Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 can be played on PC, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and the cloud via Xbox Cloud Gaming as part of select Xbox Game Pass subscription plans. You will want to be subscribed to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass to be able to benefit from your subscription and play Black Ops 6 at no extra cost. Game Pass subscribers also gain access to pre-order benefits, including the Woods Operator pack and special edition weapon blueprints.

Black Ops 6 is the first Call of Duty title to launch on Xbox Game Pass on day one following Xbox's acquisition of Activision. (Image credit: Activision, Microsoft)

Is Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 playable on handhelds like the Steam Deck and ROG Ally?

The support for Steam Deck is sadly non-existent, as the RICOCHET anti-cheat used in Black Ops 6 is incompatible with Linux. If you try and get around it, there's a good chance you'll get banned. The ROG Ally, on the other hand, runs Windows 11 and as such doesn't have this issue. It's quite powerful, too, and there are examples on YouTube showing off how good it is playing handheld. You can't play the game offline, though.

The safest and best way to take Black Ops 6 portable if you own a Steam Deck is to utilize Xbox Cloud Gaming or NVIDIA GeForce NOW.